Cozumel 2016

[johnnya1966]

Good Day,

My wife and I are going on our first dive trip. Staying at Hotel Cozumel and diving with Dive Paradise. Has anyone dived with them in the past? And how were they? Was it like "cattle diving"?

 

[DjDiverDan]

I have been diving with Dive Paradise just once. It was the Scuba Board Cozumel Invasion, July, 2012. They were OK, but then we were all pretty experienced divers, and I'm sure that Dive Paradise wanted to put on their best performance. Still not near a top choice operation, for me at least.

BUT, one thing you should know about Dive Paradise - my understanding from other posts here is that it has two different levels of service. For more experienced divers who pay full fare, they have boats that are faster and take the divers to MOST of the southern dive sites. Then for the beginners, and those getting "discount" dives, the boats only go to the northernmost reefs in the Marine Park, like Paradise and Chankanaab. IF you booked your trip with a "Hotel and Dive Package", and got a "good deal," then I'm betting that you will get put on the "beginners' boat," and get a lot of shallow dives on the same reefs day after day. If you want to get put on the better boats, and see more of what Cozumel has to offer, they'll upcharge you. You get what you pay for. Personally, I like Hotel Cozumel (though I would NEVER do the AI option - the food is awful!), but I would book dives separately through one of my preferred Dive Ops.

 

[johnnya1966]

Thanks for the input. We are going with a group from a shop in Toronto called Scuba2000. We are 16 experienced divers and we will have a boat all to ourselves for the duration of our stay. I hope this means we will dive the better reefs. I'm sure that tipping the crew will help us get to see the premiere dives sites.

 

[redacted]

Thanks for the input. We are going with a group from a shop in Toronto called Scuba2000. We are 16 experienced divers and we will have a boat all to ourselves for the duration of our stay. I hope this means we will dive the better reefs. I'm sure that tipping the crew will help us get to see the premiere dives sites.

With 16 divers, it will be one of their slow boats but the ride is comfortable and good time to socialize a bit. With the exception of the most southern and northern reefs, their slow boats will usually do a deep dive on one of the more southern reefs and then move north during the SI for a 2nd, shallower dive. When I dove with them many years ago, their package included an afternoon shallow dive on one of the reef just south of their location (Paradise, Chakanab, or Las Palmas). They are all good dives. As newer divers, you should have a great experience.

Enjoy.

 

[ron_dodge]

I've dove with Dive Paradise a few times over the past 3 years. There is no doubt that they are a large and popular operation. They're big boats are slow for sure and some are slower than others. However, I've never had a problem stopping in the main shop downtown and asking to have my group switched from one of the slow-slow boats to one of the fast(er)-slow boats.

They've always kept the group at a 1DM per 8 divers max. Most of the times I've been it's been a 1:5 or 1:6 ratio.

I've also never had an issue getting to the southern sights. When we've asked to go to one of the far southern sights, the guides and captain will be sure that we're ok with the 60 - 80 minute ride and then we're off. I'll qualify that by saying that I've also never lobbied to go to Devil's Throat or one of the other "advanced only" sights while on one of the big boats. If you want to do the advanced sights they like to get a smaller group of advance divers together and go on a small/fast boat.

All in all, Dive Paradise is a big op but, they're also super easy to work with and very good to their guests. You should have a great time.

 

[mstevens]

... better reefs ... premiere dives sites ...

There aren't any "better reefs". Honestly. I'm not being some sort of booster here.

I love Maracaibo - it's possibly my favorite dive - but it's deep, a short dive, and often involves deco. Some of my favorite dives have been long, shallow explorations at Paradise. Some days a site I usually like is sort of blah for one reason or another, and other sites shine more than usual. It hasn't always been the first time, but sooner or later with every site I've come to understand why I would want to go there again.

What makes a "good" dive site: Coral formations? Tiny critters? Do swim-throughs bore you? Do you fail to understand what excites people about splendid toadfish? Do you care about photography? Do you love to fly along the reef hardly kicking?

You're not very likely to find that nudibranch on a dive at Barracuda because you're not going to have any time to inspect the sandy bottom. If you love dramatic coral formations you might get bored with a 90-minute dive at San Clemente seahorse-hunting.

My point is that you must be clear about what would constitute "better reefs" or "premier dive sites" TO YOU in order to ensure that you get to them.

The real reason most of us prefer the boutique operators, besides the lack of a "cattle-boat" approach with large groups of sometimes poorly-matched divers and more regimented dive plans, is their flexibility and responsiveness. They don't have a schedule that says "Tuesday is Palancar Ladrones and Paso del Cedral". The divemasters and captains know the changing conditions and can take into account what divers are looking for and recommend sites that are likely to be great for those purposes that day.

Hotel Cozumel is fine (I've never tried the food, and never would), but I wouldn't likely ever dive with a hotel's "in-house" dive shop since in my view the range of independent shops offer much more value.

 

[Jake-The-Snake]

My wife and I have stayed at Hotel Cozumel, and dove with Dive Paradise many times, using the package deal through the hotel, and have been very happy with them every time.

The decision on which dive sites were gone to on the morning dives were always left to the consensus of the divers (conditions and experience allowing), while the afternoon dive was limited to the closer reefs (Paradise, Las Palmas, and Chankanaab)

I have always intended to try some of the other dive ops, Aldora, and Blue XT sea in particular, but have liked the DM's and staff at Dive Paradise too much to not use them.

 

[Luis H]

I am going to guess that if you are going with Alec Peirce (from Scuba 2000) he will make sure you will have some good dives.

 

[newgentry]

My wife and I have stayed at Hotel Cozumel, and dove with Dive Paradise many times, using the package deal through the hotel, and have been very happy with them every time.

What he said. My daughter and I have been diving for 12 years, we've been to Cozumel probably 15+ times, and we've stayed at the Hotel Cozumel every time, and dove with Dive Paradise every time. It's always just been the perfect combination for us. I can't really add anything that others on this thread have pointed out, but I'm confident that you'll have a great trip. Actually I can add one little point - this has been touched on, but about the only bitch I have with Dive Paradise is that their one-tank afternoon dives have very limited dive site options - you go to Paradise Reef or Las Palmas, maybe Villa Blanca on the days that the ferry isn't running - and that's pretty much it. So what we've been doing is going with Dive Paradise in the morning on one of the their smaller fast boats, and then hooking up with Aldora or somebody else in the afternoon for a one-tanker or maybe a two tank twilight dive. Much more expensive than Dive Paradise, to be sure, but they'll take you pretty much wherever you want to go. Have fun!